


"Doctor!"

by dalekisnotonfire



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Gen, Post Episode AU: s02e13 Doomsday
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-21
Updated: 2013-06-21
Packaged: 2017-12-15 17:28:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,308
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/852122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dalekisnotonfire/pseuds/dalekisnotonfire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clara and the Doctor stumble upon the alternate dimension Rose Tyler lives in (without TenToo. I'm too lazy to think of an explanation). Oneshot.</p>
            </blockquote>





	"Doctor!"

Life after the Doctor feels like a soldier's. It takes months to readjust to normal life, to get images of aliens and galaxies out of your head. It's hard to face the real world and make yourself forget about him. Because really, no one forgets about the Doctor. One can only try. Rose had done well with readjusting. She would linger in the past most of the time, but could also be genuinely happy sometimes. She met a boy, Quentien. Although she had tried to stop comparing people to the Doctor, Quentien wasn't anything like him. But he was shy, cute, and sweet, and that's what Rose decided she wanted in a husband. They were married, and Rose tried her hardest to not imagine the Doctor standing in front of her at the altar. She worked at a restaurant now. Every time she had to deliver a plate of fish and chips to a table, she thought about her first "date" with the doctor. She had to buy. Other than the little things, Rose was doing pretty well in the real world. But sometimes, when she longed for her Doctor, all she needed was a walk. Rose adjusted her jacket and cringed against the cool fall breeze. She took the route that passed the playground, hoping the children's happiness was contagious. No such luck. Somehow, seeing them happy just reminded her of how sad she was. Rose kicked a stone and watched it tumble down the hill, awakening puffs of smoke along the way. She sighed and started thinking about turning back when something caught her attention. That was when she heard it. Off in the distance, blending with the autumn breeze and children's squeals of delight. The wheezing noise that only one particularly blue thing in the universe could make. Rose's heart was in her throat and all she could focus on was to run. Run to the sound. Run to that man. As the sound grew quieter, Rose grew more panicky, desperate to reach him. Her heart was beating a million miles a minute and suddenly Rose was choking with the effort of breathing hard through the tears that were now dripping down her cheeks. She couldn't lose him. Not again, not now. She stopped in her tracks to calm herself down. The wind had died down and the only noise disrupting the quiet was the squeaking of the swings to her right. It was gone. He was gone. She lost her chance and would probably never have another one. But then, Rose was sure she was imagining things. For she was quite sure that she heard a different squeak, just for a second. The squeak of not a swing on a playground, but the squeak of a police box door. It came from slightly up ahead. She let out all the air she hadn't realized she was holding in and walked briskly, following her ears. Only once did she even think about Quentin. The thought of him coming home to the silent, empty apartment and seeing no note, no explanation. In the back of her mind, she pictured him panicking after she didn't come home. A repeat of her first travels with the Doctor. But all of those thoughts were deflated and abandoned like a week-old balloon when she heard the squeaking of the door. And then was when she caught the flash of that deep, beautiful blue in-between the leaves. It was the happiest Rose had ever been, which made her feel guilty for placing this moment above hers and Quentin's wedding day. And if Rose would have had more time to think about her decision to keep going, she might have decided against it and saved herself a lot of heartache. But the last thing Rose was thinking about was turning back. A couple more steps lead her around the trees, and the TARDIS was in full view now. Rose beamed at the sight of it, and all the happy memories that were flooding her brain. After a few seconds, Rose managed to shake off the happy love drunk sensation and kept walking forward, faster this time. She was NOT going to lose track of him. Rose had just passed the TARDIS when she caught sight of a man up ahead, a man with mussed-up, long-ish hair, a tweed jacket, and a bright red bow tie. It took Rose 2 seconds to realize that was the Doctor. Maybe not her Doctor, but it was definitely the Doctor. Rose was overcome by so many emotions and was just about to yell out "Doctor!" when the TARDIS door opened right next to her, and a pretty brunette wearing red stepped out. The woman jumped after seeing Rose right outside the door, then smiled and mumbled "'scuse me" as she passed. "Doctor!" the woman called, taking the words right out of Rose's mouth. She caught up to him, and they walked side by side, brushing shoulders and looking very happy together. In the short time that this all happened, Rose had experienced a multitude of emotions and was left with one single emotion seeping through her entire body: sadness. Complete and utter sadness. Not the kind of sadness that makes you cry yourself dry, or even the kind that makes you violent, either. This was the kind that sucked up everything inside of you and left you with nothing. It left you empty and heartless. Rose wasn't sure how old this Doctor was, or how long it had been to him since they were separated, but it still hurt. It hurt a lot, seeing how he could replace anyone just like that. And then Rose felt a bitter, metallic pang of anger coming from deep inside of her. The Doctor knew how much he had meant to her. He had seen the way Rose's expression would change as he walked in the room. He noticed the little things, and Rose's love for him was no surprise to him. Rose had needed him, and seeing the cold reality of how much he didn't need her hurt like nothing else had hurt before. Walking home, Rose was surprised at the fact that no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't hate the Doctor. She couldn't hate his new companion, either. She was just empty. Rose wished every day that that day at Bad Wolf Bay had never happened. When she wasn't caught up in the routines of normal life, she was sucked up into the fantasies in her head. The days of traveling with the Doctor, her Doctor. The memories and the days that never were. And for once in her life, she felt her own version of some sort of closure.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
"What took you so long?" The Doctor asked, holding his finger up in the air to determine where exactly they were. "Oh, nothing. Couldn't find my sweater. Since when has it been autumn, anyway?" Clara replied, draping the fabric around her arms. Not waiting for the Doctor to answer her question, she kept going.  
"There was a woman outside the TARDIS when I came out, too. I'm not sure if she saw inside, but she looked pretty confused when I passed." Not paying much attention, The Doctor replied.  
"Hm. What'd she look like?"  
"Blonde. Jean jacket. Pretty eyes. Why?"  
The Doctor stopped walking and turned to face Clara. He just stared into her eyes with a concerned and even sad expression plastered on his face. Clara frowned slightly and restated her previous question.  
"Doctor, why?"  
He turned quickly to look back at the TARDIS, but there was no one there. No traces of anyone still lingering, either. And to Clara's surprise, a single tear dripped down the Doctor's face. He took a shaky breath and just stared down the road, with the same empty expression.  
"Doctor?"


End file.
